1 The mourners came at break of day;
Unto the garden sepulcher;
With darkened hearts to weep and pray,
For Him, the loved one buried there.
What radiant light dispels the gloom?
An angel sits beside the tomb.

2 The earth doth mourn her treasures lost,
All sepulchered beneath the snow;
When wintry winds, and chilling frost,
Have laid her summer glories low:
The spring returns, the flowerets bloom—
An angel sits beside the tomb.

3 Then mourn we not belovèd dead,
E’en while we come to weep and pray;
The happy spirit far hath fled
To brighter realms of endless day:
Immortal hope dispels the gloom!
An angel sits beside the tomb.